Soldiers Honored at Benton County Fair Exhibit

SAUK RAPIDS -- An exhibit that's honoring those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country is on display all week at the Benton County Fair.

The Remember Our Fallen exhibit highlights the thousands that gave their lives while fighting in the global War on Terror. The War on Terror started after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Noala Fritz is one of the organizers for the exhibit. She says they use pictures to tell each veteran's story.

"This is a national traveling memorial. Pictures have been chosen by the families of those soldiers who have been lost. we've asked them for a picture of them in a military uniform, then there's an inset picture of them, I say 'loving life.' What you see in the picture is the military part but you also see the story behind that."

Fritz says the pictures bring each soldier to life and the goal of the memorial is to not forget that life.

"The idea behind this is remembering our fallen, say their name, so they won't ever be forgotten."

The exhibit travels throughout the country. Fritz says it features 4,970 (about 70%) military personnel who were killed in the War on Terror.

All of the pictures for the exhibit are displayed on towers. Fritz says they have two unique towers, one is red and one is blue. The red one is to honor soldiers who were killed in a state-side training mission. Meanwhile, the blue tower represents those who have taken their own lives.

"There's another tower that's blue in the background and that's dedicated to soldiers that have been diagnosed with PTSD and then completed suicide. We're all very aware that 22 a day that we are losing them. I think that some people don't realize that some of those are still active duty."

This is the second year in a row that the exhibit has been a part of the Benton County Fair. The exhibit will be on display through Sunday.